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Islam from the Western Scholars' Viewpoints (1) - Al-Shia The Scientific and Cultural Website of Shia belief Islam from the Western Scholars’ Viewpoints (1) 2021-11-03 462 Views When Muhammad was 40 years old, he was commanded by Almighty Allah, through His angel, Gabriel, to declare His Oneness to the idolaters and polytheists of the whole world, and to deliver the message of peace to an embattled humanity.

In response to this command of Heaven, Muhammad launched the momentous program called Islam which was to change the destiny of mankind forever. Before the Call came to him to declare the Unity of the Creator, Muhammad was in the habit of spending much time in meditation and reflection. To be free from interference and extraneous distractions, he frequently went to a mountain cave called Hira, three miles in the north-east of Makkah, and spent the long summer days there.

He was in Hira when one day the Archangel Gabriel appeared before him, and brought to him the tidings that God had chosen him to be His Last Messenger to this world, and had imposed upon him the duty of leading mankind out of the welter of sin, error and ignorance into the light of Guidance, Truth and Knowledge. Gabriel then bade Muhammad to “read” the following verses: “Read in the name of thy lord and cherisher who created: Created man out of a clot of congealed blood. Read!

And thy lord is most bountiful, He who taught the use of pen; Taught man that which he knew not”. These five verses were the earliest revelation, and they came to Muhammad on the “Night of Power” or the “Blessed Night” in the month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar) of the 40th year of the Elephant. They are at the beginning of the 96th chapter of The Quran. The name of the chapter is Iqraa (Read) or ‘Alaq (the Clot of Congealed Blood).

The Night of Power or the Blessed Night occurs, according to tradition, during the last ten days of the month of Ramadan, and could be the 21st or 23rd or 25th or 27th of the month. In their respective accounts of the reception by Muhammad of the First Revelation, the Sunni and the Shia Muslims are not in agreement.

According to the Sunni tradition, the appearance of Gabriel surprised Muhammad, and when the former ordered him to read, he said, “I cannot read.” This happened thrice, and each time when Muhammad declared his inability to read, the angel pressed him hard to his bosom.